


High Hopes Desert Ash

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [28]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Anyways revisiting stupid dwarf town, Gen, The others are there too but the character tags are the ones that speak I guess, because angst, except it's not, fun times, it's not even a desert town, some grammar and spelling mistakes may exist my computer was being a bundt cake, this is more like High Hopes High Angst if I'm being honest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24866662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: On the way back from a mission, the group stops in Estúpido Enano once more. However, they don’t find the town or the villagers.Instead, they find ruins and ash.
Relationships: Paddock "Paddy" Whitlaw & Hashaan (High Hopes Low Rolls)
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	High Hopes Desert Ash

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubbleDramatically](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbleDramatically/gifts).



> Poor kids, I feel bad for what I’ve done to them. Anyways, today you’re all getting a healthy dose of fluff and angst today with “High Hopes High Morale”, the third chapter of “High Hopes Low Parenting Skills”, and this. Also, I am currently overanalyzing the fact that “Cheshire Kitten” is in Paddy’s playlist and I don’t know what to for that.  
> Also, I’m totally not procrastinating writing an email to my school counselor, what could you possibly be talking about?

By the time they had gotten there, the smoke had long faded from the sky but still lingered in the nearby air.

While they had been riding up on their horses, none of them had known anything about the horror that they were riding into. Malark noticed that Paddy had a small smile on his face as they walked the animals down the path. The forest around them was in the brightest stage of its life, verdant and happy and full of vibrance. Deer bounded through the shadows of the other trees, the white spots of the fawns’ coats glowing like snow in the sunbeams drifting between topaz brown trunks and emerald green leaves. The fresh scents of flowers and greenery and _life_ echoed around them in the babbling rivers just beyond sight and running rabbits that whipped through the undergrowth.

When they came to the edge of the woods, the thick stench of ash lingered heavily and the trees had grown sparse. All of a sudden, Ava yanked on her horse’s reins and pulled the palomino gelding to a sharp stop. The other horses reacted in kind, some rearing up and halting before glancing back at their herd member in confusion. Some of them whickered as well, ears flicking. Malark’s own mare started trotting in place, tossing her head and snorting nervously. The whites of her eyes were showing, and she grappled with the reins like they were snakes.

“Whoa, girl, it’s okay.” Glancing over at the dwarf, Malark called, “What’s up, Ava?”

“There’s—I’m not sure.” Staring ahead, she added, “I can’t feel anything. Something’s wrong.”

Wheeling her own mare around, Gwing shouted, “Come on! Let’s find out what’s going on—and everyone be ready to fight.”

They didn’t find a battle.

They found ruins.

Glancing over at Paddy, Malark noticed that the wood elf was suddenly very stiff in his saddle. Green eyes darted over the greys and blacks of a destroyed town that they had been in maybe two months before. His grip on the reins was so tight even his already-pale knuckles were bloodless. “Paddy? Everything alright?” He asked, pulling his horse over to Paddy’s. The two seemed to whicker to each other in muted tones, like they knew something was wrong. “Paddy?”

Paddy jumped off of his horse all of a sudden and sprinted into the ruins before anyone could stop him.

+++

This couldn’t be happening.

His lungs were burning, but he kept running. Estúpido Enano had never been that large of a town, and they had gotten a look at pretty much all of it. Faces kept flashing through his mind as he ran, heart pounding and shoes colliding roughly with the cracked and ash-covered cobblestones beneath his feet. “Arizona! Calla!”

When he came to the square, he skidded to a stop so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet. As he did, all he could hear were the sounds of the others calling after him and the horses’ hooves clattering on the stones. _No, please no. No this can’t—this can’t be happening what happened_ who did this?

Whirling around, he took in his surroundings and what was left of the town. Some of the stone seemed to have been _melted_ somehow, but he wasn’t sure how that would even work. The plants that Ava had grown had been scorched and reduced to little more than smoldered skeletons of what they had once been.

Arizona and Calla’s faces flashed through his mind, as did those of the other kids who had lived in the town when Paddy and the rest of High Hopes had been there last. They were just kids…had they even known about the fire? Had they still been in town? What had happened to them?

He didn’t even realise for a moment that his hands were glowing until he heard autumn leaves falling on the ground at his feet. They shrivelled up before they even touched the ground, and he stared down at them with wide eyes. As he watched, the golden-orange glow faded to brown. Eyes narrowing, he looked around him again. At first, he’d felt the same dread that he had about Bay Hollow.

Now, however, he wanted to find the monsters who had done this.

Behind him, Malark’s pantherlike tread (the one he only did when he was trying to be heard, so as not to startle someone who was dangerous—but Paddy wasn’t dangerous, was he?) padded up to him. A hand landed on his arm and he jerked away, looking at the ground. “Don’t tell me it’s okay, Malark.” He growled, voice sounding so unlike him that he actually scared himself. Malark, to his credit, refused to step away.

“We’ll find the people who did this, Paddy. I promise.” The words sounded so weak, even coming from Malark. They did nothing to quiet the fiery rage that Paddy could feel burning in his chest.

Jerking away, Paddy whipped around to face his teammate. “What good is that going to do, Malark? Look around you!” Gesturing to the burnt remnants of someone’s home—someplace that reminded him all too much of his own home—he spread his arms to indicate the scorched pattern. “Look at this! Someone did this!” He didn’t even care that he was shouting anymore. Something hot and wet streamed down his face and he found he didn’t care about that, either. “Don’t you even care?”

“Of course I do, Paddy, but—” Malark shut his mouth and looked around, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “We’ll find them.” He repeated the words.

“That’s not good enough. What happened to the kids? What happened to _everyone who lived here?_ ” Turning, Paddy stalked off to look through the town. Maybe he could find someone—some _sign_ —that people survived. Something, anything.

Something that told him things would be okay.

He didn’t even think about where he was going. The thick, sickening smells of ash and even death cloyed the air. Eventually, he couldn’t handle it anymore and he wrapped his scarf over his face. When his fingers brushed against his mask, he nearly broke down then and there. He just had to hope that he didn’t find that one mark again.

Eventually, he could barely see past the blurriness in his vision and he slumped against the wall, sinking to his knees and burying his face in his hands.

High Hopes was supposed to bring hope to people. What if them coming to Estúpido Enano had been the very thing to destroy it? What if this was happening all across Arcadon, and they didn’t know because no one had survived. What if they _had_ survived? Had they been captured? Where had they gone?

Did this have anything to do with Bay Hollow?

A thousand “what ifs” raced through his mind, burning and rolling across every single thought with no signs of dying out. Gasping and shaking, he pulled his cloak around himself and curled up with his back to the wall and his knees to his chest. He couldn’t breathe. It was worse than the time he’d run into that building to save Malark. Only this time, the fire wasn’t there it was only in his mind and nowhere else and he couldn’t—

“Paddy.” A clawed hand rested on his shoulder and he was pulled into someone’s chest. “It is okay to mourn. Sometimes zis happens.” Hashaan mused, pressing him close. It was the kind of hug he hadn’t had in a long while, the kind that his parents and siblings used to gave him and gave him before he left to travel the world. It was a mix between a bear hug and the gentle “I miss you” hugs with the tight squeeze that reminded him of home and he broke down even more then and there. “It vill be okay. Ve vill find them.”

Somehow, it was more comforting hearing it from her. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust Malark, but there was something about Hashaan that made her more comforting. He could almost believe the words. They’d find who’d destroyed the town.

They had to.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, some of the songs I listen to normally really fit with this (NF’s “Oh Lord”, Bryan Adam’s “Sound the Bugle” (mostly the beginning, honestly, but I can see the whole thing working), in particular). Anyways, my school tablet is driving me crackers and bananas because the damn thing keeps switching languages for no reason (I prefer to type in British English because the words look prettier, hate me if you want but I like it more).  
> Also I am praying that Hashaan and Nagar both have the Russian accent because otherwise I will feel like a fool.  
> Anyways I’m going to go work on that email because I have thirty minutes to do it. Roughly. Hope y’all know that you’re loved and appreciated and awesome and amazing and I hope you have a nice and if there’s anything causing you pain in your life I hope it eases soon. See you in the next fic!  
> Now, into the fray once more!


End file.
